Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by pootz:

3/5 rDev +6%look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This is NOT the Bohemia styled lager that was available from Molson's Saskatchewan brewery only.(Dewdney St. Regina) Not to be confused with Boheniam maid from Edmonton's Strathcona brewery. "Boh" represents a long Saskatchewan brewing tradition.... origionally brewed for half a century by a local brewer that was bought by Molson in the 60s. They (fortunately) did not move this beer to other breweries or frigged with the ingredients or process until the '90s. It tastes similar to the the way it always had when it won some Brussels medals in the 60s as a Bohemia style lager. It certainly was the best Canadian representation of the style from the Macro brewers at that time. However, even though this Saskatchewan beer has both taste and balence it is a blended beer....and now that Molsons is in trouble it has been brewed (badly) in Alberta and had it's label used on some cheap corn beer in Ontario.

Pours a clear medium gold color with a medium head that reduces to a ring that clings to the glass through the entire drink. Low carbonation. Has as light floral hop aroma mingled with sweet grain smells. Starts crisp then builds to a light bodied malty body followed by a clean finish punctuated by the hops thus leaving a tinny hop after taste.

All in all, this Sask, "Boh" is a pretty good Canadian beer and it is an undiscovered treat that only Saskatchewan enjoyed for decades. However Molsons have decimated this once good recipie with moving production location, blending and lastly marketing crap under the label.
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Update 25/11/04: Well I suppose it was inevitable. Molson has taken "Boh" and is brewing it in Torionto to hit the cheap-ass marjet teir....in the process the Ontario Bohemia has suffered in qusality it is an adjunct beer there with a Bohemia label on it but it tastes nothing like the original Saskatchewan Bohemia...an damn shame. The punks that guzzel this in Onterrible will never know what real "Boh" tastes like.

341ml bottle. Another re-entry into the Alberta market for the big boys - and once again, it looks like they're still clearing out old label stock - the Molson brewery in Edmonton has been closed for 5 years or so, eh?

This beer pours a clear, pale golden yellow colour, with one finger of temporal fizzy white head, which is gone the next moment I appraise the glass, at which time I also can discern a disturbing lack of anything resembling lace.

It smells of sweet, almost sugary adjunct grain malt, more glycerol than bakery-bred, a slight fruity phenolic tang, and very mild musty, earthy hops. The taste is plain, semi-sweet fruity grain, more barley-esque than I have been thus far led to believe, with some dry rice notes, tamed and broken earthy hops, and a very ethereal plastic character.

The bubbles are fairly lulling, lackadaisical, even, the body medium weight, remarkable only for the style, the smoothness equally qualified. It finishes quite clean, a smidgeon off-dry, and just a bit grainy.

Huh. Of all the Canadian analogues that Molson has churned out over the years, this one may very well be the best of a dubious class - easy enough to drink, no common flaws, innocuous. Plain, too, but that's not always a bad thing.

A- Pours like any standard macro lager, with a very clear yellowish golden color. The head is actually impressive, starting out thick and full...cloudy white in color. It eventually settles to a frothy layer over the brew itself. The lacing is actually quite good, with lots of small patches sticking to the side of my glass. The carbonation looks to be of big bubbles, but there isn't as much rising as I expected to see. Decent looking for sure!

S- This is much more malty and of fruit than I would expect, and by fruit, I smell some overripe apple. The sweetness is very dominant and is closely followed by yeasty undertones. After this, the grainy adjuncts come through, but they are definitely secondary. I don't smell any real hop dryness on the finish...just a note....as this warms up, a metallic note starts to rear it's ugly head.

T- It actually isn't too bad! Aside from being very adjunct-ish and full of corn grits, the malt is quite forthcoming....I think it does a decent job of covering up the bland, graininess of this macro style beer. The finish has a slight dryness, but isn't bitter, while the lingering flavors are of syrupy sweetener.

M- This beer is, as expected, thin and watery. The carbonation isn't super bad however, but still does the job as far as keeping this a clean crisp brew.

D- Well this is easy enough to drink and for what I paid, I agree, this is a great bargain beer! It's unoffensive, the carbonation isn't overpowering and actually has some flavor. I will pick more of this up next time I make the short drive into Saskatchewan, and keep it on hand as a decent brew to share with company!

being a good saskatchewan boy this is my drink everywhere beer I can order this in any bar I go to, its chepo beer outside the bar but I prefer it from draft, very fruity earhty hoppy taste and with a bite best served well chilled but as any boh drinker knows that temp doesn't change the taste of this beer, comes out an reddish yellow very little head has a very inviting smell and is very drinkable

Lately I've been drinking a lot of good beer. I was at a friends house the other night and saw he had some "Boh". I figured it was time to drink a cheapo macro.

A - I drank it out of the bottle, so I'm giving it a 3 because I figure that's a safe bet. It probably has a cle light straw colour that forms a vigorous but short lived head, with bright sparkling carbonation

S - Non-existent. Slightly metallic and earthy would be the closest description I can think of.

T - It's club soda. I can't identify these flavours. There's a mild sweetness, some earthy tones I guess. It's not offensive though. Not at all. It just isn't much of anything.

M - Nice full carbonation makes it lively in the mouth and helps a bit with the lack of flavour. It's light.

D - I could down these all night if I had too. I guess that's the point.

Notes: I guess it is what it's supposed to be. But what it's supposed to be is expected to be the bottom of the barrel. This beer does a great job of being not offensive. That doesn't mean it doesn't suck, just that it won't offend you.

It's the end of the term, and that means it's time to clean - specifically, to clean the fridge of the various random beer bottles that have mysteriously appeared in the past four months. What better to start with than my roommate's last bottle of Molson Bohemian, a discount-brand brew that makes me a little nervous (though the alternative is much worse - a bottle of Lakeport Pilsener with the old style of label... that one's getting the toss). But perhaps I'm just being a snob; let's examine further.

I should note, of course, that I have only a vague idea as to the age of this bottle, which is most likely just under 5 months old. This is stretching the freshness reccomendations of Molson, but it was refridgerated safely for the whole time, so I shall take a small risk. It's probably best to take this into consideration when reading my words.

Appearance is typical of a macro - it pours from the ISB (with a label exlaiming the numerous awards this brew won 100 years ago) into my pint glass a hazy macro-straw colour that's barely inches away from being translucent. An aggressive pour surprisingly resulted in two-fingers of head; though it quickly subsides, there are a few rings and an admittedly pleasant layer of thick lacing. Not nearly as bad as I was expecting.

Smell is a tad unusual, though not nearly as bad as I was expecting. It's dominated by a sort of apple, cider-ish note, which seems to be covering a bready malt and some ever-so-faint hopping. A quite sweet, almost bubblegum character, but also some corn adjunct and some slight metallic notes. Still, not as bad as I was expecting.

The taste, however, ruins anything that Bohemian had going for it leading in. Initially, the cider notes appear, but are quickly dominated by a dry, unpleasant breadiness. The cloying sweetness comes through (both as a result of the corn, which is at least subdued in the taste, and the unusual bubblegum character). Slightly metallic - the light hopping, however (which was fairly pleasing in the nose) dissapointingly fails to assert itself at all. Finishes quite, quite dry with more of the cider taste, and a feeling in the mouth of having spent the past two hours chewing on a piece of bad bread. There's certainly worse out there, but I don't want to try it.

Mouthfeel is typical macro; watery body and absurdly effervescent carbonation. Though I could conceive this as being refreshing, the taste just does not do it at all for me. Drinkability isn't bad - if I was a depressed, cheap drunk, I might turn to this stuff in a pinch (24 for $24), but if presented the choice, I wouldn't even have one.

There's definitely worse out there than Bohemian, but I certainly don't want to try it - although, to be fair, I think I prefer it to Molson Canadian AND Labatt Blue, so it has something going for it. Drinkable, but only in a pinch.

Can't beat a bottle of Boh on a hot summer day.The classic Saskatchewan beer (along with Pil). Looks like beer should - yellow/gold color, bubbly foam that quickly disappears to nothing. Not much aroma not bad, some grainy smell that gets worse as it warms up. Lots of carbonation throughout which gives it a light crisp mouthfeel. Easy to drink, generic canadian beer. Can't go wrong for the price - you get what you pay for. Drinkable on a hot day, but not much more.

341 mL bottle pulled from a two-four picked up at the Beer Store; another one of those somewhat obscure macro lager labels that only seems to be available in that format (at least outside of SK, which is the only place I've ever seen anyone else actually buy the stuff). Served well-chilled.

This one pours a familiar, clear pale golden-yellow colour, topped at first with two fingers of soapy, fizzy white head that evaporates over the next minute or so. A thin cap and narrow collar remain, with little in the way of lacing left behind. Looks fine I suppose, but there's nothing favourable to report about the aroma. Typical adjunct lager tropes - corn husk, grainy pale malts and corn sugar. Not very inspiring, but it's not like I've had any other adjunct lagers that managed to draw me in with their pleasing, complex bouquet.

More of the same in the flavour. Corn is the most prominent facet, but to be honest it's so fizzy and watery that I can't really construe the flavour as being all that unpalatable. Other than the corn chip/syrup notes, grainy pale malts and a welcome bready flavour come through. I am not picking up any semblance of hop notes, with the sip finishing on a corn sugar-and-cardboard flavour. Quite light-bodied and watery, with a fizzy mouthfeel that is likely to contribute to bloat as the night goes on. There are a few things wrong with this brew, but in the grand scheme of things *I can drink this* and it's far from the worst thing Molson has ever plopped onto the shelves.

Final Grade: 3.03, a C grade. Molson's Bohemian is a drinkable lager when served ice cold, but I might as well leave it at that because there's not much else to say. This is a bland, tolerable regional lager along the lines of the venerable Old Style Pilsner, or perhaps OV or Brewhouse - boring lagers guaranteed not to frighten off macro drinkers, and probably capable of drawing in a few prairie transplants or others under the influence of nostalgia. But ultimately, this brew possesses no features capable of enticing your typical craft beer drinker, and its strongest suit is probably the price point - $30 for a 24 is about as cheap as it gets in this province. Boh is a justifiable choice as far as value brand beers go, but I still say Upper Canada is the best bang for your buck if you want a case of something fizzy and yella to drink all weekend.

341ml bottle poured in a pint glass. The label has a slogan that says, "A Saskatchewan Tradition." Someone left this at our place after we had a party celebrating Saskatchewan's Centennial.

Yellow to pale gold in colour and clear. White 1/2 inch head at the pour, but quickly recedes to a thin cap.

Smells pretty much like your standard macro lager. Grainy and a bit sour with no evidence of malt or hops.

Everything about the taste is just plain macro. Grainy and a bit of a sour/formaldehyde finish. A bit of a metallic presence in the aftertaste.

Thin, watery and overly carbonated. Mouthfeel is harsh and acidic.

While this isn't the worst macro I've had, it certainly isn't close to the best. Not smooth, not very drinkable, and what little flavour it has isn't very appealing. Actually gets worse as you go through the glass. Drain pour.

One of those classic Canadian "drinkers" that is inexpensive and tastes better with each bottle.

I know, that's not a ringing endorsement, but at this price, if you're going to save some cash and buy a budget 24, you could do a lot worse. It's actually a little hoppy, has a fairly clean finish, and is really only marred by that sappy sweetness one finds in such corn-imbued lagers. I'm certain it bears no resemblance to whatever the original "Bohemian" might have been, but it certainly doesn't get worse as the evening progresses, and I'm sure your Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue buddies will find it an improvement.

(Can you believe those two beers are marketed as "premium"?) I'm flabbergasted. At least "Boh" pretends nothing, promises little, goes down ok... and is priced appropriately!

I didn't recognize this, so gave it a try. Pours pale straw yellow with fizzy white head. Smells grainy, some mild bready malt. No hops at all really. Quite mild taste, nothing off, just almost nothing there. Too much carbonation for my preference. I don't plan to drink again.